Paris Olympics: Opening ceremony could be cut back again over security fears

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2 months ago

March 7, 2024

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The ambitious Paris opening ceremony plans could be scaled back further due to security concerns, the Olympic chief managing the event has told Sky News.

But Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi insisted they want to preserve the spectacular, unique parade by athletes down the River Seine while not risking their safety.

Mr Dubi was speaking as the French government ordered new restrictions on the crowd for the 26 July extravaganza – with tickets no longer freely available to the public but by invitation only.

“You can adapt according to the level of risk,” Mr Dubi told Sky News at Paris 2024 HQ.

“So depending on the nature of the threat, of course this can be further reduced if need be… and it was addressing an underlying question, which is ‘can we revert back to another location, say, a stadium somewhere?’

“You cannot plan for a Plan B. It’s far too big, too sophisticated, too complex artistically to look at a Plan B in another location. Plan B is reducing, adjusting, but it is that location.”

Even with a downsized crowd, the Paris opening ceremony will be like none before it.

There will still be more than 300,000 watching officially from the side of the Seine and thousands more on balconies to glimpse the 94 boats sending thousands of athletes down the river.

There will be an unprecedented closure of the airports and airspace for a 150km radius throughout the ceremony.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) used to avoid talk of alternative plans until the pandemic, when the Tokyo Games were postponed until 2021.

“It showed the world that you’d better have a Plan B and a lot of determination,” Mr Dubi said.

Global conflicts and geopolitical tensions have increased the threat – on the ground, online and from the skies.

“Drones currently can be used as weapons, of course, and there is a whole plan that is developed by the ministry and it’s a very sophisticated one to meet with the challenge,” Mr Dubi said.

“But, also, what the people we have with us this morning are doing is to leave no stone unturned and looking everywhere there is a threat. And that’s what security planning is about.”

Mr Dubi was speaking after the final gathering before the Games of the IOC’s Coordination Commission.

Sky News was granted exclusive access to part of the boardroom meeting of the commission, which features representatives from the IOC, sports, athletes and the local organising committee.

“There is still a lot of work indeed” was the early message delivered by one official to the group.

While there is only the Aquatics Centre still to be opened, final planning involved a tour of the Olympic Village to check where athletes will stay and keeping a close check on those security plans.

Mr Dubi stressed to Sky News that “safety and security” is “first in any of the conversations”.

“The cyber environment in the world for anyone… has become absolutely critical,” he said.

“Do we plan for cyber security? Absolutely. And is it at the level of the organising committee and going back up to the state being involved? Absolutely.”

The fraught geopolitical climate just heightens the risk.

Russia is aggrieved at being banned from competing as a team in Paris after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, although some of its athletes can compete as neutrals.

There will be Israeli – and potentially Palestinian – competitors too. The Israel-Hamas conflict is set to heighten tensions around the Games.

An Israeli swimmer was booed by the crowd at the World Aquatics Championships in Qatar last month after winning silver.

There are greater freedoms for activism now at the Olympics, but the IOC is hoping for a sporting celebration rather than an event that sparks further divisions.

“The Games is the international community coming together as one,” Mr Dubi said.

“And as much as possible to give the message of unity and peace can be dominant over any others.”

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Health warning issued as heatwave grips South and Southeast Asia

Published

22 hours ago

May 4, 2024

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Health warning issued as heatwave grips South and Southeast Asia

Countries in South and Southeast Asia have been coping with a weeks-long heatwave which has seen record temperatures sweep parts of the region.

Pupils in the Philippines, India and Bangladesh have been told to stay at home and learn remotely due to a severe health risk.

Schools in Cambodia have also cut back on their hours.

Cambodia faces its hottest temperature in 170 years, according to meteorologists – as high as 43C (109F).

Bangkok in Thailand has reached 40C (104 F), but the heat index is said to have topped 50 C (122 F) due to the heat being trapped among the mass of buildings.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warned in April that the heat could put the lives of millions of children at risk and asked people who care for them to take extra precautions.

A spokesperson for UNICEF said around 243 million children were exposed to hotter and longer heatwaves.

They said the increased heat was “putting them at risk of a multitude of heat-related illnesses, and even death”.

Thirty people in Thailand have died from heatstroke in the past month, according to data from the country’s health ministry.

People are being advised to avoid outdoor activities and to stay hydrated.

Several towns in Myanmar were included on lists of the hottest spots globally last month, with temperatures reaching 48.2C (118F) in at least one case.

Parts of eastern India also experienced their hottest April on record.

Kerala, on India’s west coast, this week instructed all schools and colleges to close until Monday, while influencers in Bangladesh have encouraging people to plant trees in response to the record heat.

Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said there were three factors for heatwaves: a naturally-occurring climate phenomenon known as El Nino, an increase in global temperatures, and human-induced climate change.

Brazil is currently experiencing another climate phenomenon – La Nina – with 39 dead and 68 missing in floods across the country.

More than 24,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the flooding.

Scientists believe the naturally-occurring phenomenon has intensified due to the impact of climate change.

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Philippine coastguard hits out at China’s ‘brute force’ after water cannon attack

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2024

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Philippine coastguard hits out at China's 'brute force' after water cannon attack

China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.

Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.

Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.

“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.

“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”

The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.

The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.

The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.

Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.

The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.

It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.

Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.

He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.

“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.

Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.

The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.

“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.

Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.

Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.

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Three charged over killing of Sikh separatist leader in Canada – in incident which sparked diplomatic spat with India

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2024

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Three charged over killing of Sikh separatist leader in Canada - in incident which sparked diplomatic spat with India

Three suspects have been charged by Canadian police over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Vancouver last June, in an incident that sparked a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a temple by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, on 18 June 2023.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police assistant commissioner David Teboul said police could not comment on the nature of the evidence or the motive.

“This matter is very much under active investigation,” Teboul said.

The three suspects – Indian nationals Kamalpreet Singh, Karan Brar and Karampreet Singh – were arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said: “This investigation does not end here. We are aware that others may have played a role in this homicide and we remain dedicated to finding and arresting each one of these individuals.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic feud with India when he said in September that there were “credible allegations” of Indian involvement in the killing. India angrily denied involvement.

Mr Nijjar, an Indian-born citizen of Canada, was a leader in what remains of the Khalistan movement – a once-strong group calling for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland.

He was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death and had denied allegations of ties to terrorism.

The Khalistan movement has lost much of its power but is still supported by some in the Punjab state in northwestern India and in the Sikh diaspora overseas.

A violent, decade-long Sikh insurgency shook north India in the 1970s and 1980s, and was ultimately crushed in a government crackdown which saw thousands of people killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.

In June 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple, the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar, where separatists had taken refuge.

In more recent years, the Indian government has repeatedly warned that Sikh separatists were trying to make a comeback.

Read more: What is the Khalistan movement?

The diplomatic row saw diplomats expelled by both India and Canada.

The Indian government said it “completely rejected” Mr Trudeau’s allegations and added: “We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.”

The dispute derailed trade talks between the two countries and ultimately saw Canada withdraw 41 of its 62 diplomats in India.

At the time, Canada did not provide public evidence to back up Mr Trudeau’s allegations. However, it did reveal the claims were based on intelligence provided by a major ally and surveillance of Indian diplomats in the country.